ADVENT IV

December 20, 2009

St. Augustine Anglican Church

“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.”

The Rev. Gerald Parks +

          It is somewhat interesting to note that in last week’s Gospel, the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus, “Art thou he that should come (Are you the Messiah), or do we look for another?” (Matt. 11: 3)  It was a question Jesus didn’t answer directly.  And in today’s Gospel (John 1: 19-28), priests and Levites from the Pharisees in Jerusalem asked John, “Who art thou?” (John 1: 19), which he answered by saying, “I am not the Christ.” (John 1: 29)  Rather, he said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. (John 1: 23)  It is interesting because it shows that the Jewish people knew the Messiah was coming as the prophets had foretold – and soon.  But they didn’t know who it would be, although that too was foretold by the prophets.  Also, they didn’t understand what the Messiah’s mission would be; they only assumed they did.

          Now, John the Baptist was, by any accounting, a troublemaker: he told people what they didn’t want to hear.  And he wasn’t shy about doing it, a fact that eventually cost him his head.  But he knew he was not the Christ, only His forerunner, and the fulfillment of the prophecy of Esaias (Isaiah) – “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.”  But John attracted a large following, people who detected in him the presence of the Holy Spirit.  And until John’s death, and for some time after it, his followers far outnumbered our Lord’s own, and Jesus Himself was one of them.

          One would suppose from this and from the descriptions of him in the Gospels, that John was a wonderfully inspiring preacher, a fiery and impassioned orator whose style enabled him to give life to his simple message of repentance, to ordinary people.  In other words, he made people listen to him in a way few preachers can approach.  There are of course some – and they are well known – who at least seem to be that gifted: Bishop Fulton J. Sheen comes to mind, as well as the many televangelists such as Orel Roberts, who passed away this past week, and the great Billy Graham, and others.  Some of them are no doubt great and holy men – others  less so – and they all have many followers.  But, like John the Baptist, they also are not the Christ.

          But people have always found it difficult to discern the “real” Christ for themselves; and like the people of Israel often confuse the preacher with the message.  And by that I mean many times it is the personality of the preacher that takes precedence in people’s minds, and not the message of God’s grace that he proclaims.  Also, sometimes it is a Church building itself that becomes the primary source of people’s inspiration: the preaching may be lousy, and the message unintelligible to thinking Christians, but as long as the building remains more or less as it always has been, nothing else matters.

          The question we should ask, then, is as it always has been: what or who do we follow?  Do we believe that Jesus is “He that should come, or do we look for another?”  And the answer to that is difficult for many people.  For, truth be told, it calls for a commitment to Jesus that has nothing to do with the “personality cults” of individuals, or any other thing that even for a moment separates us from a personal relationship with the Living Christ.  He it is, about whom John the Baptist said, “I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not: He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” (John 19: 26-27)

          Do we know Christ?  It is an answer we should seek at all times, and especially during this Holy Season of Advent.  This week the world celebrates the birth of Jesus, with ceremony and great celebration – giving and receiving gifts, and merrymaking with friends and family.  But the great question remains to be answered: do we know Him?  And have we understood the great message of Advent: He will come again “to judge the earth, and with righteousness to judge the world, and the peoples with His truth.” (Venite, exultamus Domino)

          Throughout all the ages of man, there have been great leaders, some bringing a message of hope and prosperity, and others a message of evil and destruction.  But among them John the Baptist stands out as unique.  He alone it was, who was sent of God to proclaim to the world the news of the coming of its savior, Jesus the Christ.  He truly was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” to repent and “make straight the way of the Lord.”   But even he didn’t understand the nature of the One whose arrival he proclaimed: hence his question.

          Today we do know who the person we call Jesus Christ was and is; yet, in many ways, it is as though we do not.  We hear John’s words to repent and prepare, but many of us still do not do so, preferring yet to embrace the messenger while ignoring the message.  Let us always remember that what is important is not who preaches the message, but the message (providing it is the truth) that he preaches.  Jesus is coming again in glory to judge the world: that is the truth.  And we must be ready.